"We have lost much of what we once were." A new alliance... After escaping the dwarvish prison in Brekken Dahl, Aaron, Lorik, and two dwarves continue their quest to recover the Book of Aleth, now fallen into enemy hands. To avoid Therion's forces, the band forges deep under the shattered hills into long-forgotten passages, where foul creatures wait in the darkness. An ancient prophecy... Although each step is fraught with danger and betrayal, the mission must succeed. The travelers encounter beings, both friend and foe, straight from myth and legend. And when a member of the group falls, a new ally of a race thought extinct joins the quest. In the ruins of Kellen Dahl, a discovery is made...to restore hope and a future a new protector must rise.

A stolen text...When the Book of Aleth is stolen, Aaron, captain of the Royal Guard, is ordered by Emperor Therion to reclaim the ancient tome. The mission thrusts Aaron into a world he's never known'a world of elves and dwarves, races long thought extinct; a world where everything he has known and believed is a lie.A secret past... Forced to challenge his long-held beliefs, Aaron and his companions, two soldiers of the Royal Guard and two men of the Dwarvish kingdom of Brekken-Dahl, set out on a quest to recover the Book. Aaron resolves to discover the truth, and rescue the empire he is sworn to protect.

"Part I includes all of "Volume One" of the original edition, except the Stoplists from Chapter 10. Part 2 of this edition includes all of "Volume 2" of the original; Part 3 includes all the Stoplists printed in the original Mmo [Musica mechanica organoedi] and all the stoplists cited from other sources but not originally included, plus bibliography, index, etc."--Back cover

Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's pioneering and widely acclaimed volume, now reissued with a new Preface and Epilogue, has served to reorient interpretations of this controversial book. Rather than finding an individual Christian vision of a fiery endtime, Schussler Fiorenza writes of Christian communities living in the shadow of imperial power, fearing denunciation by their neighbors, yet envisioning the eventual effect of Jesus Christ's resurrection and enthronement on the whole social order. In Schssler Fiorenza's theological-historical analyses, the Book of Revelation is a literary product of early Christian prophecy, and her interpretation leads to distinctive notions of the book's composition, social intent, relation to the Gospel of John, and visionary rhetoric of apocalypse and justice.